


please forgive me if my lips quake

by disgruntledkittenface



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Cate Blanchett appreciation, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Girl Direction, Meet-Cute, and one wily pet cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 09:55:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17465306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disgruntledkittenface/pseuds/disgruntledkittenface
Summary: Hi ! Got your number from your cat Lou. Just want to make sure they’re not lost, only visitingHarry's pet cat wing-womans her into a date.





	please forgive me if my lips quake

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [ tumblr post](http://frostkings.tumblr.com/post/178917816566/my-cat-out-here-just-handing-out-my-digits-my). Thank you to my lovely friend [ queenofquiet17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofquiet17/pseuds/queenofquiet17) who looked this over for me<3

_Ding!_

Harry grabs her phone from where she’d dropped it on the couch next to her, expecting to see a text from Zayn demanding that Harry set aside the season of _Great British Bake-Off_ she’s currently binging on Netflix to go out with their group of friends later. Furrowing her brow when she sees the text preview from an unknown number, she swipes at her screen to unlock the phone, hoping it’s nothing that will drag her away from her comfort show.

_Hi ! Got your number from your cat Lou. Just want to make sure they’re not lost, only visiting_

Attached is a photo of Harry’s yellow cat lolling on her back on a patch of grass, the tag with her name and Harry's phone number glinting in the sun. Harry rolls her eyes fondly; the way Lou acts, you’d think she never got any affection at home when, in fact, that seven-pound creature practically runs Harry’s whole life and gets plenty of cuddles in the process. She taps out a quick _All good, thank you! She loves visiting_ and is about to turn her attention back to Mary Berry and company when another text pops up, this time a selfie of a girl, a _gorgeous_ girl, holding Lou up with one hand and wrinkling her nose as Lou rests a paw on her cheek and sniffs her (gorgeous) face.

Harry’s mouth dries up as she studies the photo, taking in the girl’s short, caramel-colored hair, her curved eyebrows, her blue, blue, _blue_ eyes, and her thin pink lips twisted in an impish smile.

Okay, apologies to Mary Berry but fuck _GBBO._ Harry needs to meet this girl.

In person.

_Now._  

She hurriedly exits the show and shoves her laptop onto the coffee table before getting up and crossing the room. The full-length mirror in the hall shows her reflection as she grabs her silk bomber jacket and throws it on. Harry eyes herself critically, running a hand through the front of her hair and then scrunching the ends. Already jittery with nerves, she shakes her shoulders out as she takes in the plain black t-shirt and skinny jeans she’s paired with glittery ankle boots and now the jacket with floral embroidery on the front. The clasp on the thin silver necklace she always wears has slipped down so she rights it, gingerly moving the cross to lay just right on her chest before looking back up at her reflection and nodding at her mirrored self in approval.

She looks _good._

Knowing herself, that won’t help calm her nerves when she’s actually in the face of a pretty (hopefully queer, please god, let her be queer) girl, but Harry feels confident as she steps out onto the front porch, casting a look down the street lined with small bungalows to find her.

A loud, bright laugh from her left, across the street and a few houses down, catches Harry’s attention. She whips her head in the direction of the lovely sound, her eyes landing on a petite butch girl with the same short hair and gorgeous face in the photo. She’s wearing a burgundy beanie atop her caramel pixie cut, paired with a loose white tank top, and Harry bites her lip to stop from grinning at the combination. Her eyes fall to the girl’s shapely legs encased in tight black denim and Harry releases her hold on her lip to gulp.

_Wow._

The girl looks up and catches her eye, cocking her head with a question in her eyes. Caught, Harry stiffens for a moment, frozen in place, before finally managing to lift a hand and waggle her fingers in greeting. It feels like there’s a spotlight on her, highlighting to the entire neighborhood how Harry is the most embarrassing person on the planet, but then the girl smiles. And _waves back._

Oh, god, okay. Harry can handle this. She’s talked to pretty girls before, even dated a few here and there. She’s got this. No problem.

She immediately trips over her own feet, but manages to stay upright as she walks down the porch steps and crosses her yard, pausing to look both ways down the street before lightly jogging to the other side. As Harry gets closer to the girl’s front yard, she spots Lou curled up on the grass, looking at her with unmistakable satisfaction on her tiny furry face, like she’d planned this.

Harry stumbles over an uneven brick on the path just as she reaches the girl, totally derailing her planned attempt at nonchalance. The girl holds a hand out to steady her, gripping Harry’s elbow lightly.

“Hi!” The girl’s speaking voice is bright too, cheery as though Harry’s awkwardness somehow hasn’t put her off yet, and slightly raspy, like maybe she’d actually gone out with friends the night before instead of curling up with a cat and imported baking show.

“Oops!” Harry manages as she starts to sweat. “I’m so sorry! I was just–”

“Nah, I’m sorry,” the girl rushes to say, squeezing Harry’s elbow and almost causing her to pass out. “That loose brick gets everyone, are you okay?”

Somehow the girl’s clearly genuine concern makes Harry even more embarrassed. She can feel the heat of her blush spread across her cheeks as drops of sweat bead at her forehead.

“I’m fine,” she mumbles, at a loss for how to get this back on track. She smiles helplessly at the friendly girl, even prettier in person and close up, and decides she probably doesn’t even have a chance. It’s oddly freeing, allowing her to think of something logical to say. “I’m Harry, this is my cat. Lou.”

“Oh, yes, Lou here and I are great friends,” the girl says, moving to sit on her porch steps and beckoning for Harry to do the same. “We have the same name, so that helped break the ice.”

“Really?” Harry asks, a happy smile twitching at the corners of her mouth. “Your name is Lou?”

“Well, Louis,” she answers, reaching down to pat Lou’s head. “But my friends call me Lou.”

Harry hums and smiles, trying to think of something clever to say. Her cat has unknowingly (or knowingly maybe from the looks of her still smug face as she purrs up at Louis) wing-woman’d her into a meet cute and she’s totally blowing it.

“So how’d you pick the name?” Louis asks, straightening up and facing Harry. “I mean, aside from it being the best possible option, obviously.”

“Oh,” Harry laughs, running a hand through her hair. Of course, that was so obvious, why didn’t she think of that? “Oh, um, her coloring, you know how she’s kind of blonde? It reminded me of Cate Blanchett–”

“Oh, and Lou after _Ocean’s 8!”_ Louis interrupts, her voice full of glee. “I love that movie, Cate was such a badass in it. You kind of remind me of her, actually, in that outfit.”

“Thanks,” Harry says, dropping her eyes and pinching her bottom lip between her thumb and her forefinger, needing a moment before she can form a coherent reply. “Yeah, I loved her clothes, I’m pretty sure every outfit she wore in that movie made me gayer.”

Harry freezes. Oh, fuck. What if the vibe that Harry was getting was all wrong? Harry _knows_ Cate Blanchett’s appeal is universal; what if Louis is like one of her straight friends who all declared how much they wanted Cate to step on their faces after the movie came out? Oh god, what if–

“Oh, same,” Louis says easily, with the same sunny smile as before.

Thank fuck.

“I haven’t seen it in awhile,” Louis continues casually, as if Harry wasn’t just spiralling into a gay meltdown on her porch. “It’s not on Netflix yet, is it? I know it’s lame, being Saturday and all, but I kind of want to stay in tonight. Be cozy.”

She leans down and scratches at Lou’s head again before picking the cat up and cradling her to her chest. Harry gapes at her, trying to make sense of the casual (almost _too_ casual) words. After a moment, Louis looks to her, eyebrows raised.

Almost like a dare. And sure, Harry may tremble in the face of pretty girls, but she’s never been one to turn down a dare. She casually (almost _too_ casually) runs her hand through her hair again, flipping it back over her shoulder.

“I have it on DVD,” she comments, meeting Louis’ glinting blue eyes. “And we like staying in and being cozy.”

“Do you now?” Louis asks, grinning. “Package deal, you and Lou, huh?”

Lou meows from Louis’ arms as if to answer Louis’ question and they both laugh.

“You know, I’ve never been much of a cat person,” Louis remarks as Lou nuzzles her head against Louis’ collarbones.

“Could have fooled me,” Harry murmurs, half jealous of her own cat and half tempted to snap a photo of the adorable picture they make together.

As Louis throws her head back and laughs, Harry sits back and admires her. Her easy body language, glowing tan skin, long eyelashes. Admires everything, just… what she’s like. It’s been five minutes and she’s so into this girl that she doesn’t even mind being a cliche.

“So, Harold,” Louis says mock seriously, looking over at her once her laughter dies down. “This DVD. How would one arrange a cozy viewing party with a certain pretty girl and her cat?”

Harry bites her lip, determined not to make any dirty puns until Louis knows her better even though she directly, probably purposefully, set her up a joke just then. She reaches her arms out and takes Lou before standing up.

“You’ve got my number.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! [ fic post](https://disgruntledkittenface.tumblr.com/post/183315313952/please-forgive-me-if-my-lips-quake-by)


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